"He's a good player. We know how talented he is, what he can do," said Federer, who ousted Tomic in straight sets in the fourth round last year.

"It's obviously tricky playing him in Australia. He usually plays his best over here.

"Even the pressure, you might think it's a problem. That's what people usually say.

"But I always say it's best to be playing at home. You have confidence that you believe you can upset top guys.

"I'm sure he believes in that as well. But he's also got his work cut out in the first few rounds."

If world No.64 Tomic, among the hottest players on tour this summer, can get past Argentine Leonardo Mayer on Tuesday, he will likely come up against Slovakian 27th seed Martin Klizan, another of the game's rapid risers.

Long-term, Federer is predicting bright things from Tomic - but the world No.2 wasn't convinced the youngster could fulfil his promise of cracking the top 10 this year.

"I think we should go step by step, see how it goes," Federer said.

"Let's speak in a year's time. Everybody wants to jump from what's his ranking - 60? - to 10 in a year. It's hard to do. 10 is a big ask.

"Don't forget how tough the top 10 players are right now.

"Yeah, let's go step by step."

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